state of the nation: running in America

I have recently relocated to Missouri in the good old US of A. Looking around it doesn’t seem to be a mecca of running and exercise; the streets are empty of people as everyone opts for the car, the city is spread out across a huge area so you can see why, but when coupled with the plentiful high calorie food which is available, it doesn’t make for a healthy looking city.

Fortunately there is a huge park dominating the middle of the city, the circumference of which is over 10km, it features lots of running paths spread throughout. This is just what I needed to kick start my running after what had been a sparse 2013 so far. All I had managed was a couple of 5km runs this year, so I was keen to get some miles in me.

I purchased some new shoes, more on those in another post, and met up with a local runner who picked the route. When asked if I wanted to run 4, 6, 8 or 10 I thought 10km would be good, only to be reminded that they work in miles! Probably best to start with 6.

Over the weekend I ran a nice 27km split over the two days and now my legs are giving me a warm ache which tells me that they will probably hurt tomorrow, but I’m feeling good in the knowledge that I’ve burnt off some of the lovely American food that I have been devouring over the last week!

The st Louis marathon is coming up in April…but might be a bit ambitious at this point. With temperature due to drop back to -11c this week it might be hard to get out much.